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Singing the way to Triple J

Sue Javes

IF YOU happen to hear of a young man peddling furiously into
Sydney on his bike at daybreak while singing at the top of his
lungs, it could be Alex Dyson, one of the new hosts of Triple J's
breakfast show.

A producer has told Dyson that singing is the best way to warm
up his voice for the 6am starts but he is not sure he will be able
to cope with the stares.

Dyson and his on-air partner, Tom Ballard, will be the envy of
many seasoned radio presenters and comedians when news spreads
that, at just 21 and 19, respectively, they have landed the
breakfast slot on Triple J.

They replace Lindsay McDougall, Marieke Hardy and Robbie Buck in
what will be seen as a generational change catering to Triple J's
18 to 24-year-old core audience.

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Buck is moving to 702 ABC (Sydney's equivalent of 774),
McDougall has moved to the Triple J drive shift and Hardy has a lot
of writing commitments locked in for 2010 (see page 7).

The boys from Warrnambool have known each other since they were
in nappies. Their mothers attended the same playgroup but Dyson and
Ballard didn't become firm friends until they met at a local
community theatre group in their mid-teens. Soon afterwards they
began co-hosting a Sunday night show on community radio, aptly
titled, in retrospect, The Breakfast Show.

Triple J management has been nurturing the young comedians since
they were in high school. Ballard was in year 11 in 2006 when he
impressed program director Chris Scadden at the Triple J Raw Comedy
finals in Melbourne. When Scadden learnt about Ballard's amateur
radio show with Dyson, who was then in year 12, he asked for tapes
and began offering constructive criticism via email.

The following year, Dyson and Ballard presented as many
overnight shifts on Triple J as possible in between school and
university commitments. Last year they became regulars on the
overnight shift and this year they have been hosting the weekend
breakfast show.

Ballard received a further career boost this year when he won
best newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for
his show Tom Ballard Is What He Is, a reflection on growing up gay
in Warrnambool. Ballard says it was a turning point for him.

''Before that I was doing generic jokes that pretty much anyone
could have delivered,'' he says. ''When I started doing personal
stuff about me, it was funnier and it felt more natural.''

They are the youngest breakfast team Triple J has had by a long
shot but Ballard says they feel ready. ''It would be a daunting
prospect at any age, so we might as well grab it while it's there.
The only downside is that I've been warned by a few friends that
I'll get fatter and more depressed as the year progresses.''

Dyson says they intend to be light-hearted and inclusive. The
pair start their breakfast shift on January 11.